Developmental Screening in Plainfield, IL
Monitoring Children's Milestones
Dr. Kristine Liberty, Dr. Steven Kovar, and Dr. Jessica Ciszek direct Kids First Pediatrics in Plainfield, IL. Our pediatric medical doctors are experienced, skilled, compassionate, licensed, and board-certified in pediatrics. Our doctors help parents understand the importance of monitoring specific milestones in a child's life through developmental screening at birth and into the teen years.
Developmental Milestones
As soon as your baby is born, they progress through specific life stages called milestones. When your child enters these milestones, we expect them to meet particular skills. Our doctors look for and monitor age-related milestones during developmental screenings; for example,
- How they adapt to activities of daily living
- Social interactions
- Motor coordination
- Cognition
Kids First Pediatrics in Plainfield, IL investigate why the child is not meeting the expected skills to provide the earliest intervention possible. Early intervention through referrals from our office provides immediate services and parent support for children with developmental delays or symptoms of mental illness. Early intervention helps decrease the impact of a disability. Developmental delays may include,
- Late rolling/crawling/walking
- Difficulty talking/communicating/socializing
- Inability to connect actions to consequences
- Failure to perform daily living tasks
- Abnormal eye movements
- Limited movement/stiffness/floppy extremities
- Involuntary reflexes versus voluntary movements
Our doctors realize that all children are different, with unique and individualized growth patterns. Children develop at their own pace, which may not mean they are developmentally behind or ahead of other children their age.
You are with your child 24/7. If your child seems behind in meeting certain skill sets for their age, you must alert us and make an appointment so we can assess your child's development. For example, your child should be crawling, lifting their head, rolling over, but they are not. We ongoing monitor and observe your child.
When a child is not meeting milestone skills, we have tools and tests to help determine why. If we discover your child has some developmental disabilities, there are resources available for you, such as,
- Speech/language/occupational/physical therapy
- Education/parent training
- Medical/nursing services
- Vision/hearing services
What Questions Do I Ask My Pediatrician?
Q. Is my child meeting milestones?
Q. What health screenings/vaccinations does my child need?
Q. How many words should my toddler be speaking?
Q. Does my child need a physical before starting nursery school?
Q. How can I get my child to eat healthier?
Q. Is my child's motor skills developing as expected?
Call Dr. Liberty, Dr. Kovar, and Dr. Ciszek at Kids First Pediatrics in Plainfield, IL, today at (815) 609-5437 if you seek a quality board-certified pediatrician for your child. We want to meet with you if you suspect milestone delays in your child. We can perform developmental screening and testing and provide treatment options to meet disabilities.